Aug. 15, 2014

Is Healthy Soil the Low-Tech Solution to Climate Change?

In her book The Soil Will Save Us, writer Kristin Ohlson interviews farmers, soil scientists, and agronomists and concludes that the low-cost, low-tech solution to climate change may be directly underfoot—in healthy soil. Crops have an enormous capability to sequester carbon, she writes, but only if the soil is made to thrive with a mix of no-till farming, cover crops, and livestock grazing. Gabe Brown, a farmer and rancher in North Dakota, has been practicing this sort of agriculture for decades—and says it can be successful just about anywhere. (Read an excerpt from Ohlson's book here.)

Produced by Christopher Intagliata, Senior Producer

Guests

Kristin OhlsonAuthor, "The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers, and Foodies Are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet" (Rodale, 2014)Freelance writerPortland, Oregon